32% of organizations say over the next 12 months, sales enablement will be their top marketing priority.

This is a big deal, folks.

To put into perspective how eagerly sales and marketing teams are adopting sales enablement, consider that this term wasn’t even listed as a top marketing priority option in HubSpot’s previous State of Inbound reports (2016 marks the 8th annual edition). This year – not only is sales enablement listed – but it was chosen by roughly one in three respondents.

The report goes on to say that sales organizations are undergoing “a radical transformation right now – similar to the inbound revolution that swept over marketing teams a decade ago.”

At Brainshark, we agree.

“Sales enablement has evolved from a haphazard set of activities to a strategic function,” Brainshark Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships Jim Ninivaggi says. “It ensures that field sales people have the knowledge, skills and content to maximize every buyer interaction – whether that interaction be inbound or out, real time or virtual.”

But despite the fast-paced changes happening in the B2B sales world, as the report points out, the goals remain the same: to sell more, better, faster. That’s where sales enablement enters.

We rounded up some of the most compelling sales enablement statistics from the report that any sales and marketing leader will want to know. Here they are:

“Most consider it hard, unproductive work, avoid it or do it poorly,” Mike says. “Therefore when they do it, they face a lot of rejection. That often leads to a negative mindset and it becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“It doesn’t help that there are so many sales consultants and vendors touting that ‘cold calling is dead,’” says Mike. “The truth is, though, that when you prepare well, understand a little psychology, focus more on your buyers and their problems, and use tested, proven-effective methods, prospecting becomes a lot more fun, a lot more productive, and a lot more lucrative.”

It’s why we often hear that salespeople spend a third of their time searching for the right content. Or that 70% of the content marketing creates goes unused by salespeople.

Disconnects between sales and marketing are nothing new – but the reality is, it impacts your entire organization.

As Forrester Principal Analyst Mary Shea said in a recent video, content plays a major role for buyers when selecting a solution, meaning when it’s ineffective (and/or not used), it can impact sales team performance – and revenue.

Common sense will tell you better cross-departmental relations will mean better results overall. When sales and marketing teams are on the same page, and both have access to analytics to determine what’s resonating, they’re more likely to adjust their strategy to reach effectiveness.

Sales enablement is likely not considered overrated because it directly improves how a seller sells.With a systematic approach toincreasing sales productivity – by supporting reps with the content, training and ongoing support – more successful sales conversations, and ultimately more deals, will be the logical result.